Work Text:
Shen Wei closed his book with a heavy sigh.
“What is it?” he asked.
It was supposed to be a nice evening.
Right after the war, things had been hectic. But slowly, bit by bit, the world had started calming down. Now, idle, quiet evenings were not such a rare thing.
And on such evenings, they would usually have dinner, then they would both settle on the couch for an hour or so. Shen Wei would pick up a book and Zhao Yunlan would take one of his many technological wonders and either unceremoniously drop his head in Shen Wei's lap or work his toes between Shen Wei's thigh and the couch. And then Shen Wei would usually transfer his book to one hand and rest the other one in Zhao Yunlan's hair, or on his knee, depending on which part was more readily available to him on that particular evening.
But not today.
Today Zhao Yunlan was sitting on the barstool, opposite the couch and squinting at Shen Wei. At first Shen Wei wanted to wait for Zhao Yunlan to volunteer whatever was on his mind, but it had been fifteen minutes already and Shen Wei really liked their couch time.
“What do you mean?” Zhao Yunlan asked innocently.
“You've been looking at me like that for the past fifteen minutes.”
“Well, what's wrong with that? I'm just admiring a work of art.”
Shameless flatterer. But fortunately Shen Wei was already used to that and thus mostly unaffected.
“Maybe you'd like to admire from up close?” he said, patting the space on the couch from up close.
Zhao Yunlan let out a gasp of faux-indignation that sounded entirely too delighted to be believable.
“Xiao-Wei, how forward of you!” he said with a wide grin.
Shen Wei blinked at him.
“I don't know what you mean. I just invited you to sit on the couch.”
“And that's an invitation one simply can’t refuse,” Zhao Yunlan said cheerfully.
He sauntered towards the couch and flopped down in his usual insouciant manner, this time pressing his back against Shen Wei’s side. There was nothing atypical about this position at all, but Shen Wei couldn't help but feel like Zhao Yunlan was still distracted somehow. He put away his book and wrapped an arm around Zhao Yunlan who let his head tilt back to rest against Shen Wei's shoulder.
“Yunlan, what's on your mind?” Shen Wei asked.
“Oh, I'm just thinking.”
“I see. And that's troubling for you?”
Zhao Yunlan huffed.
“You're getting mean, baby.”
Shen Wei pressed his lips to the top of Zhao Yunlan's hair and waited.
“Do you think,” Zhao Yunlan started after a few seconds of silence, “that we'd be together without the whole hallows - time travel business?”
“We were born ten thousand years apart, Yunlan. We wouldn't have met without the whole hallows - time travel business.”
Zhao Yunlan craned his neck to look at Shen Wei.
“I know that, obviously,” he said. “I mean, if you first met plain, old Zhao Yunlan, would you still want to date him?”
Shen Wei frowned. He didn't like the question.
“There's nothing plain about you.”
“Yes, yes, I know I'm incredibly handsome, of course. I'm just saying that I wouldn’t be offended if you felt a little bit cheated.”
“Cheated? Zhao Yunlan, what are you talking about?”
Zhao Yunlan sat up, turned around and settled back on the couch cross-legged. Shen Wei turned a little to face him.
“I mean, when you first met me, it was under false pretenses, wasn't it?”
Shen Wei blinked. Where did that come from? It had never occurred to him that he could be bothered by this. Kunlun had his secrets and his reasons for them and that was it. Much like Shen Wei himself ten thousand years later. Could it be that this was what Zhao Yunlan was hinting at?
“The same applies to when you first met me. Do you feel cheated?”
“Of course not! When I met you, I thought you were a mysterious, beautiful professor with a killer sense of fashion. You are all of those things. And so much more. Whereas when you met me, you thought I was a famous general from a far away land, hailed as a great hero by all. Much more exciting than ordinary Chief Zhao. Come on, aren't you at least a little bit disappointed?”
In Shen Wei’s humble opinion, Chief Zhao was more than exciting enough and ordinary would be the last word to describe him.
“How could I be disappointed?” he asked, placing his hand on Zhao Yunlan’s knee. ”This life that we have together is so much more than I ever expected to have.”
“So basically what you're saying is you're content with me because your standards have been sufficiently lowered?”
“Don't be ridiculous. I don't have low standards.”
“I'm just joking around,” Zhao Yunlan said with a laugh but there was something in his eyes that made Shen Wei think that there was something more to this.
But whether he was truly bothered or just trying to wheedle more compliments, Shen Wei estimated the chances to be around fifty-fifty. He placed his hands on Zhao Yunlan's shoulders and pushed down lightly. Zhao Yunlan didn't resist, he only disentangled his legs from their previous position and stretched them out and lied flat down. Shen Wei climbed fully onto the couch, placed both his knees on the sides of Zhao Yunlan's thighs, effectively straddling him, and placed an open hand on Zhao Yunlan’s chest, right over his heart, relishing the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
“Yunlan, when I first met you, I thought you were an exceptional leader and a great hero. I still stand by that judgement,” he said firmly.
“Ah, xiao-Wei, you’ll make me blush, if you keep talking like that. Out of politeness, I won't contradict you,” Zhao Yunlan smirked and folded his hands behind head. “But you have to admit that I had a bit of an unfair advantage in gaining your regard.”
“I don't know what you mean,” Shen Wei said, evenly. Between the two of them Zhao Yunlan always had an unfair advantage. But there was no reason to voice that particular sentiment. It wasn't like Zhao Yunlan didn't know that.
“Your eyes literally lit up when I told you my name was Kunlun.”
Shen Wei smiled, despite himself, at the thought of the night at the cliff they shared under the moonlight.
“I'm sure they didn't do that literally.”
“No, I remember it quite well. It hasn't been as long for me as it has been for you, remember?”
Shen Wei huffed. He remembered the exchange in question quite well too. He’d always considered it to be one of his most treasured memories.
“I was posing as a celebrity after all, There’s no need to be embarrassed about being a little starstruck, surely,”
“I've met many celebrated men. But I only ever met one Zhao Yunlan.”
“Are you trying to say that general Kunlun's fame didn't affect how you saw me back then? You weren't impressed even a little?”
“Of course I was impressed, I was… young. But it wouldn't have meant anything if you weren't so…”
“So what? Charming? Capable? Confident?”
Shen Wei closed his eyes. Letting himself be maneuvered into this conversation was a mistake. He dropped his head into the crook of Zhao Yunlan's neck.
“So handsome?” Zhao Yunlan guessed again, with a laugh.
“Yunlan…”
“Oh, you wouldn't have liked me if I weren't so Yunlan? Got it.”
“Yunlan, let's stop talking.”
Shen Wei felt a hand rest on his lower back.
“Well, I'm sure you can think of a reliable way of shutting me up.”
And that Shen Wei certainly could do.
It ended up being a nice evening after all.
“Xiao-Wei.”
“What is it?”
“Tell me a little more about what a great hero you think I am.”
“Yunlan, please.”
“You can't go around saying such embarrassing things and then expect me to just let it go.”
“Yunlan…”